mproving visitor understanding of sand dunes at White Sands NM

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The landscape at White Sands National Monument changes daily. Light afternoon winds move a few sand grains; a dust storm might cause the dunes to creep forward slightly. These incremental, daily changes add up to remarkable shifts in dune shape and position over the course of a year, and over decades, the whole dune landscape is reset with little memory of the past. Because most visitors only spend a few hours in the park, they miss the big changes that occur in the landscape over many years. To improve the visitor experience to gain appreciation for the changes that occur in the landscape, we will characterize the dune shape and movement over time.

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